Woven-wire fabric.



Patented May 7,` |90I.

m. .R LB nA PF IE .L um I l wjNm .um IOW Wm med Aprfz, 1900.

(N0 Nudel.)

NITED STATES THOMAS W. KIlIPFEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE UNION WIRE MATTRESS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WOVEN-WIRE FABRIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettersv Patent No. 673,642, dated May 7, 1901.

Application filed April 2, 1900. Serial No. 11,105l (No specimens.)

To aZZ whom it may concern'.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. KLIPFEL, of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Woven- Wire Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in woven-wire fabrics, and refers more specifically to a fabric made of spirally-coiled wire suitable for mattress-frames, wire-matting, and the like.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a fabric composed of oppositely-coiled spirals which are so Woven together as to avoid the tendency to twist or bring a twisting strain upon the supports between which it is distended when subjected to a strong tensionas, for example, in a mattress-frame; to provide a fabric which presents a smooth, uniform, and finished appearance; to interweave or interlock the strands of the fabric directly with each other, so that any desired length can be woven without change in the form of weave and without the employment of special additional interlocking strands or wires, the fabric being made entirely of spirals which are or may be exactly similar, with the exception that one set of strands is composed of right-hand coils and the other set of lefthand coils, thus reducing to a minimum the machinery necessary to form the fabric; to produce a fabric the pattern or appearance of which may be radically modified by sim- A ply shifting the position in which the coils are held relatively to each other, and to provide a novel and improved selvage or binding for fabrics of this general character.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and it will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l' is a plan or face view of a fragmentary portion of fabric constructed in accordance with my invention, one edge of the same being provided with a novel form of binding or selvage. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a single pair of spirals from which said fabric is composed. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the spirals shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is aview Referring to said drawings, l 2 designate j the several members of the pairs of spirals, each pair being com posed of a left-hand spiral l and a right-hand spiral 2, and a plurality of such pairs being interwoven to form the fabric. As will be seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3, the two members of each pair, while interiitted in such manner as to occupy substanti-ally the same cylindric space, are not wound around each other, but are simply held in intimate bearing with each other, with their several coils intersecting each other alternately at the opposite sides of the spiral, as indicated at 3 4 in Fig. 3. Thus the fabric has in one ply two series of spirals of opposite twist and substantially parallel in mean direction. The pairs of spirals are interwoven with each other in such manner that each individual member of a pair is passed through each one of the coils of one of the members of the adjacent pair, its fellow member being likewise interwoven with the coils of the other member of the adjacent pair. For example, the spiral 2 has each one of its coils interlocked with each one of the coils of the spirals 2 next adjacent thereto, as indicated at 5, while the spiral 1 has each one of its coils interlooped with the coils of the spi-v rals l of the adjacent pairs, asindicated at 6. When thus interlocked, a direct tension upon the fabric at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the several spirals will cause the pairs of spirals to assume exactly opposite relations to each other-that is to say, the intersecting points 3 4 of any one pair of spirals will be alternately at opposite sides of the fabric and disposed oppositely with relation to the intersecting points 3 4 of the adjacent coils. When, however, the direction of tension on the fabric is at an angle to a direction at right angles to the axes of the spirals, or, in other Words, is on a bias with relation to the weave of the fabric, the coils will assume the position shown in Fig. 4, wherein it will be seen by carefully tracing the meshes that the interweaving is precisely the same as in Fig. l and that the difference in appearance is proframes and the like.

duced solely by reason of the changed relationsof the spirals to each other caused by the endwise movement of one pair of spirals relatively to the pair with which it. isinter:

woven.

y The selvage or binding (designated as a whole 7) constitutes a separate feature of the invention and consists of a main body formed by twisting two strands 8 9, each composed of a plurality of parallel spirals, around each other in opposite directions and alternately over and under each other, asY indicated clearly in Figs. l and 4. The width of the two strands and the pitch of the coils are such that spaces l0 are formed between the overlapped parts, and through these spaces are interwoven a pair of uniting-coils, consisting in the present instance of double right and left spirals 12 and 1l, respectively arranged in the same relation to each other as are the individual members of the pairs of which the f fabric proper is formed, the coils of this double pair being interlocked or interwoven with the edge of the fabric precisely in the same manner as are the pairs of the fabric proper.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the spirals are so interwoven that when the tension upon the fabric is at right angles to the length of the coils there is no tendency whatever of the fabric to twist, and it is therefore especially suitable for use upon mattress- It will furthermore be seen that when shifted into the position shown in Fig. 4 it produces an extremely ornamental fabric, which is especially suitable for mats or other ornamental articles, and if thus drawn into biased position as far as the coils Apermit the latter become locked rigid with each other, so that the fabric as a whole is relatively rigid and peculiarly adapted for the forming of'mats and the like.

While the fabric herein shown is formed of spirals made of uniform size and pitch, it will be obvious that this is not essential. It will also be obvious that the invention may be embodied in a fabric composed of spirals formed of a plurality of strands, as will be clearly seen by reference to the uniting-coil, bymeans of which the fabric is united with the selvage, it being obvious that the entire .fabric might be made vof lspiralseach having a plurality of strands or wires. l do not therefore wish to be limited to the precise fabric ...shown and described herein except as made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my inventionl. AAs anew article of manufacture, a wire fabric having ascomponent parts in the same ply two parallel in mean direction series of spirals of wire, one series composed of right and the other of left twist and interengaged.

2. As a new article of manufacture,a wovenwire fabricornprising pairs of spirals of equal but opposite pitch, 'arranged with their coils intersecting at alternate opposite sides, and the coils of a plurality of such pairs interwoven, substantially asdescribed.

3. As a new article of manufacture,a woven- Wire fabric consisting of a plurality of pairs of spirals of equal but. opposite pitch, the members of each pairv being arranged with their coils intersecting alternately at opposite sides, each coil of each member of each pair theadjacentvpair, substantially asdescribed. 4. As a new article of manufacture,a wovenV wire fabric consisting of a plurality of pairs of spirals of equal but opposite pitch, the members ofeach pair being arranged with their coils intersecting alternately at opposite sides, each coil of each member ofc-ach pair being interlocked with a corresponding coil of the adjacent pair, and the intersecting points of adjacent pairs beingoppositely disposed with relation `to each other, substantially as described.

5. As av new article of manufacture, a wire fabric having as component parts of the same ply two parallel in mean direction series of spirals of wire of right and left twist, the numbers of Vspirals of opposite twist being substantially equal andY the spirals being interengaged symmetrically, whereby the twisting tendency of the spirals of opposite twist,when the fabric is under tension, counterbalance each other.

THOMAS W. KLIPFEL.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. GRAVES, FREDERICK C. GOODWIN.

beinginterlocked with a corresponding coil of 

